The Runic Alchemist

In the Beastmen village near The Dreaded Lands, few months later.

"Shhh... He's coming..." whispered Zhinshi from beside Neo.

Neo stopped talking and immediately mimicked a Whisperwing bird's calling, signaling to the others that their prey was near. It was a group of Ashenvale soldiers, one of the many that had wandered into their valley recently. They were cautious of their surroundings, but not as much as they should have been.

The knight leading the small group suddenly stopped. Neo's heart raced—had they been discovered? Did the knight figure it out? But after a tense moment, the knight continued moving, taking slow, deliberate steps. He was more alert now, but it was too late for it.

"Do it..." Neo whispered, as if commanding the winds itself, even though he knew no one was listening to him.

The ground beneath the group of soldiers caved in, and one by one, the heavily armored men were impaled by the wooden spikes laid out beneath the trap with screams echoing the whole valley. Neo exhaled in relief and leaped down from the tree behind Zhinshi.

"It worked!" Taub exclaimed, slapping Neo on the back. The others quickly joined in, congratulating him.

"Man, last time we almost had to retreat. I can't believe it worked this well! We took them out without even lifting a finger," one of the other beastmen said, clearly impressed.

Neo's group had volunteered for patrol duty, following Kazak's call to arms. After the chief's death, no one in the village or the entire valley dared oppose Kazak's rule.

Without wasting time, Kazak had formed a small standing force to guard the valley, and those less skilled were tasked with patrolling the area, reporting anything unusual back to Kazak, who had taken over the chief's hut, where he now planned and organized their defenses.

At first, the patrols only reported strange behaviors from beasts and monsters. Then, they started encountering small groups of soldiers wandering into the valley, despite their efforts to block all entrances in the valley except the river. The river cut through the valley and passed by the high hill where their largest village stood, which was also Neo's home.

They kept a close watch on the river, but somehow, humans still found ways in—either by climbing over the blockage or perhaps flying or some hidden path. Recently, the soldiers had been coming in larger groups though, forcing Neo and his comrades to deal with them without alerting Kazak's main force.

The new chief himself had ventured outside the valley several times with his warriors to confront larger groups of Ashenvale soldiers. Even when they faced overwhelming numbers, Kazak's sheer strength alone could crush entire units. He had killed the last chief—who, while not a saint, was still a decent leader—but that was simply the law of the forest: the strongest ruled. No one complained.

In fact, Kazak had become popular among all the villages, earning both fear and respect. He was doing everything he could to keep the invaders from their homes. Without his early precautions and decisive retaliation, their villages would have been burned long ago, just like many of their human neighbors.

"Quiet down..." Zhinshi called out. Everyone turned to look at her as she strained her bunny ears to their limit. Her eyes widening.

"Another group is coming... They're just outside the blockage," she said, her voice tense.

Immediately, Kinal, the older boy who acted as their de facto leader, ordered everyone to hide. He sent two of the quickest members to scout ahead. Zhinshi was one of them. When she and the other scout returned, there was confusion rather than alarm on their faces.

"What is it?" Kinal asked.

"It's the lord's son... William. He's here with his knights," Zhinshi replied.

'Huh...? What's he doing here? The villages are burning, and he has time for a tour? Why isn't he defending his lands?' Neo wondered, baffled.

"You two, notify the village. The rest of us will meet them and escort them back safely," Kinal ordered. The group immediately set out to follow his command.

When Neo and the others met William's party, there were about 25 knights, along with a man dressed in equally shiny, expensive-looking armor as William. He didn't appear to be one of William's knights. Neo guessed he was a general from the Eldoris army, judging by the colors beneath his pristine armor.

William, along with an older knight who Neo recognized as the one who came annually to collect taxes with lord Asher, agreed to follow them back to the village. The captain, however, wore a look of disdain, as if disgusted by how friendly William was with the beastmen. This smelled like trouble.

Once they returned to the village, after looting the bodies of the fallen soldiers, they escorted William, the unknown knight, and their men to the chief's house. They were dismissed after delivering the party, but Neo and his friends exchanged knowing glances and quietly stayed behind.

Once everyone had left, they climbed onto the roof of the chief's house from their usual spot, peering through the gaps to watch what transpired inside.

Inside, Kazak and the visitors were exchanging greetings. Neo noticed the strange captain refused to shake anyone's hand, sitting himself down uninvited. Despite the captain's rudeness, Kazak remained composed, inviting William and the older knight to sit as well. Only two knights had accompanied William inside for protection, while the others stayed outside.

Also present was old man Shin, who had taken on an important role in assisting Kazak with day-to-day affairs. Together, they had hatched many plans since Kazak became chief.

"Forgive my rudeness, my lord, but may I ask the reason for your sudden visit?" Kazak asked politely.

"Hmph," the captain scoffed, making no effort to hide his displeasure. Neo clenched his fists, his anger rising at the man's blatant disrespect.

"Kazak, you're the chief now, huh? That was unexpected, but I suppose it's better this way than with Zalar..." William said, his tone neutral.

"What do you mean by that?" Kazak asked.

"Lend us your people... We have to fight those Ashenvale bastards who are invading our land," William replied bluntly.